Metal pizza peel
Whether you have the perfect temperature, right dough, excellent toppings and all those other instruction on how to make a great pizza, you stand to fall short if you do not have the right pizza peel.
There is nothing more frustrating like having trouble sliding the pizza on to the pizza stone, turning it or retrieving it. Try to force the cooking process and you will have not just poor quality pizza but also your hand will be hurting so bad from burns. So amongst the plethora of pizza peel, which type stand out?
Let me take you a step back. There are two major categories of pizza: wooden pizza peels and metal pizza peels. Each of this type has its advantage due to the fact that they are made from different material.
The contrast is seen in the blade and not the handle as it’s typical to find a metal pizza peel with a wooden handle. A wooden handle is preferred due to the material inability to conduct heat fast making it safe for a pizzaiolo to handle.
Type of metal pizza peel
For a myriad of reasons, metal pizza peel is the best amongst the two types. When you visit an online shop or a local store, you will come across two kinds of pizza peel made of metal: aluminum and stainless steel.
Aluminum is by far the commonly used pizza peel. Its strength, ease of cleaning and let not try to ignore, a lower price makes it a favorite. You can get such a pizza peel from as little as $20.
Stainless steel pizza peel is by far the best metal pizza peel. Its advantages go beyond the pretty looks. First, you will not come across someone using a stainless pizza peel complaining of chips, bend or crack. It also saves the hustle of ensuring the peel is completely dry before storage as you don’t have to worry about rust. Not even a scratch can deter the stainless steel peel’s ability not to rust. To be precise, a stainless steel pizza peel is durable, versatile and worry-free.
Why you should choose a metal pizza peel
Both types of metal pizza peel are thin. That thinness makes it easy to slide the peel below the pizza while it is half cooked or when retrieving it from the oven. Storage is also easier with a thin blade. Both metal pizza peels do not absorb food substrate making them easier to clean. That means you do not have to worry about unwanted stains and odor contaminating your hard-cooked best dish. If you prefer, you could get a perforated metal pizza peel. The perforations allow excess dough to fall off before the pizza gets onto the pizza stone.
The only trouble you are assured to came by when using metal pizza peel is the poor launching of the raw dough onto your pizza stone. This is because the dough sticks to the metal surface, a character that has probably kept wooden pizza peel alive. Also, metal pizza peel cost more compared to its counterparts made from wood.
In spite of those limitations, a metal pizza peel comes out as the winner. So, if you are thinking of making a good pizza, you might want to consider using a metal pizza peel. Now that you have found one key tip of making a great pizza, good luck in finding the rest and happy pizza making.
Aluminum pizza peel
As any Italian will tell you, no one should mess with a pizza. To ensure you don’t break that code, let us see how you go about cooking a pizza at home. A good pizza ought to be crisped and well charred? To get such quality, you need to turn your oven to high temperature, place the pizza stone and then the pizza on top before quickly shutting the oven door. Nothing beats a good pizza, but the process of its making sounds quite dangerous if one gets sloppy in the kitchen. A pizza peel will ensure that not only will you have that crispy pizza at the end but it will also it keep your hand safe from the hot oven.
There many types of peels- long-handled tools with a flat paddle pizzaiolo use to put and retrieve pizzas from hot ovens. Most professional cooks prefer long thick peels with heavy duty material to poke their pies from the mouth of fire belching ovens. If you love home cooked pizza and do it occasionally, which is the best pizza peel for the job? Well, I advise on an aluminum pizza peel. It never disappoints.
Aluminum pizza peel shapes
In addition to different sizes, aluminum pizza peels are available in various shapes. This is seen on the peel end. The aluminum material can either be round-headed or square-headed. Each of this shape has its advantage. A rounded head enables one to work with pizzas in all corners of an oven using a single small doorway. Try to maneuver the pies using a square-headed aluminum pizza peel, and you will get a different experience. However, this mostly applies to professionals. For a home cook working on a grill or small oven, there is no need to attack the pizza head on. Therefore, a square-headed aluminum peel makes the process of inserting and retrieving much easier. You will also notice that either a square or a rectangularly shaped aluminum peel prevent the uncooked pizza from sagging over the edges.
Aluminum pizza peel Size
Regarding size, the aluminum pizza paddle varies in length of the handle or the head of the blade. The head of the blade might be long, (4-5 inches) allowing the cook to reach all the way to the back of the oven while keeping your hand from the door. That means you don’t have to worry about baking your hand despite the short handle. Alternatively, you can choose to use an aluminum pizza peel with a short-headed blade and a long handle. The length of the handle is designed to keep your hand from coming into contact with the pizza stone, hence safe.
Why choose Aluminum pizza peel
Price for the Aluminum pizza peel
A 310 by 310 blade with a 550mm handle goes for $39.95. For 350 by 350 mm blade with a 600mm handle, you have to part with $5 extra. Note that you can even get it a more affordable price if you mind window shopping at the local store.
Ease of cleaning of the Aluminum pizza peel
Aluminum is the second easiest metal to clean. The first is stainless steel. That saves you both time, energy and of course soap. The peel ease in cleaning translate to fewer chances of contamination from unwashed food debris.
Long lasting and thin.
Aluminum is a metal and thus goes without a saying that it will serve you for a very long time. Besides that, aluminum pizza peel is super thin making it easy to slip under the pie whether you are cooking on a grill or a pizza stone.
Other benefits of the Aluminum pizza peel
An aluminum pizza peel is made with wooden handle. That makes it safe to handle while the good conductor of heat blade is in contact with the pie.
While purchasing the aluminum pizza peel go for a size that is convenient for storage. For the long handled peels, a nail on the wall works perfectly. For the long-headed blade pizza peel, you can try improvising e.g. squeezing it between your fridge and its housing.
Don’t forget about all of your other pizza tools like your cutters and long-handled forks.